The
association introduced a class structure for tournament competition in
1925. CLASS A was composed of schools with enrollment over 200 and CLASS
B was made up of of all the other schools in the state. 1

The Class A bracket was limited to
sixteen teams. The eight sectional champions automatically qualified and the top
two teams from the CLASS B State were eligible as well. The field was filled in
as selected by the KSHAA from sectional runner-ups. 2
The change
was an answer to the complaints from most schools to the grueling schedule of
the open style tournament. The new CLASS B was a response to the wishes of the
small schools that rarely had a chance to get past the first round.

The 1925 Class A
tourney was famous for upsets. An early shocker was the Kansas City walloping of
KC-Argentine (35-12) in the quarter-finals. Argentine had defeated Kansas City
three times during the season but had no answer for Ed Skradski - a future
Kansas State star. 3 Then, Wichita claimed a minor upset when they defeated
defending champion Emporia in the semi-final with a last second shot by Tom
Churchill. Emporia had defeated Wichita during the regular season. 4

Ray Young's
Wichita crew was considered a contender for the championship, but only if
undefeated Newton slipped along the way. Wichita's district loss to Newton in
the finals gave some hope to the boys as they were able to hold a lead late in
the game before eventually bowing to the Railroaders. Few expected Wichita to
upset the team that had defeated them four times before this first Class A
final. Wichita's win was without question the biggest upset, to that date,
in the history of the KSHSAA tournament. 5

Wichita received an
invitation to the national event in Chicago and Newton was expected to be
invited as well due to their victories over Wichita in league and tournament
play. But the invitation never came for Coach Lindley and his team stayed home
due to the hot shooting of Captain Berry Dunham of the Blue & White. The
Wichita team left immediately for Chicago at the conclusion of the state meet. 6

It became clear after
the first two rounds that Wichita would reach the finals of the Chicago tourney.
They defeated Detroit-Southeast 39-24 and the experienced Yankton, SD team
37-15. The toughest game of the event for Wichita was the semi-final versus
Westport of Kansas City, MO. They overcame a flat period during the 3rd
quarter for a come from behind win 29-24. 7

The final game drew
2,000 fans to the Wichita gym for a special play-by-play of the game. The
Wichita Eagle relayed the action by telephone to the gym as results were
reported to their office by special wire. The fans were overwhelmed as the
result of Wichita's easy win over Reno, OK (27-6) was reported. The players
matched the reaction of the fans as they celebrated a national championship at
Bartlett Gym in Chicago. Few could believe that the team that could not win the
Ark Valley League championship had been declared the best high school team in
the country. 8

The players were quiet
on the return train trip to Kansas. "That's a mighty fine bunch of
boys," said the (train's) porter. "Never had no loud stuff there. They
just rode home like they was visiting their grandmothers." But when the
train pulled into Emporia there was a loud reception from the Emporia basketball
team that had gathered to greet and congratulate the Wichita boys. The
next stop in Newton brought out the school and half the town to greet the Kansas
heroes. 9

The reception for the boys at
Union Station in Wichita was similar in size to the one given Kansas City
in 1923. When the boys became visible, the crowd, estimated at 10,000, exploded
with a roar that eliminated any attempt for a school cheer. Captain Dunham
hugged the gold basketball championship trophy awarded the team and weaved his
way through the mob and semi-collapsed in a waiting automobile. The other boys
were removed from the station and the speech making was delayed until the
following day when a parade was conducted down Douglas Avenue. 10

Three players from this team
had significant basketball careers after high school. McBurney and Dunham played
for Wichita University and both were stars in AAU competition after college. 11
Tom
Churchill played his senior season in Oklahoma City and was an All-Missouri
Valley player at Oklahoma University in football and basketball. 12

Haven captured the first ever
Class B championship held in Salina. Coach Guthrie praised the physical
condition of his players and stated that was the key to victory in Kansas
Wesleyan's King Gymnasium. 13

Salina Journal writer Stu
Dunbar explained that the directors of the tournament were inclined to not name
an all-star team. They wanted to emphasize team play over individual
accomplishment. Individual awards were planned for every member of the 1st and
2nd place teams 14 Despite these wishes - the Salina Journal did publish an
all-star team selected by various writers covering the event. 15

Both Haven and Eudora were
eligible for participation in the Class A tourney. Only Haven accepted the
challenge. The 97 student school defeated Norton before elimination by the
all-conquering Wichita boys. 16

Class A
competition was held at Kansas University's Robinson Gym for the last time in
1926. The suggestions that the tourney be moved to other venues around the state
was adopted by the Association for the next few years. The obvious advantage for
Kansas University in the recruiting of high school athletes had become a sore
point with the other Kansas colleges.

The Newton dynasty was reinforced when Coach Lindley's team won the Class A
championship. They rolled through the best basketball league in the state
without a loss. Their junior guard, Forrest "Frosty" Cox, was one of the
finest high school guards in the country. He was known for his outside shooting,
dribbling and defensive abilities. 1
Frank Lindley continued as the unofficial
coach of the team - Birch Stuart was often referred to as the head coach in
newspaper articles of the day - but over time Lindley has always been credited
as head coach of these Newton teams.

Augusta made their first appearance in the tourney a memorable one. George Clow
*, a transfer from Emporia, was the team leader. 2
Coach Paul "Busch"
Gross would later move on to a prominent career at Fort Hays State. 3
Augusta's highlight of the event came when they won their tough battle with
Emporia in the semi-finals. Players admitted that game took a lot out of them
and they were only able to play with Newton for a half before being out-classed.
"We gave 'em all we had," an unnamed player stated, "and that
wasn't enough." 4

Liberal became the first team from the Southwest to have an impact at state.
Coach Eldon Shupe duplicated the success he enjoyed with the football team. Local
boosters gave the Coach and team use of several Buicks to make the long trek
from Liberal to Wichita and then north to Lawrence. Their return trip to Liberal
took several days due to the muddy dirt roads of that era. 5

Fans from around the state who could not make the trip began to check with
those people who had radios that could pick-up re-creations of the games. These
broadcasts reported the scores and sometimes the play-by-play as received by
wire. The local paper in Augusta was flooded with phone calls from fans wanting
the latest telegraph reports. 6

Newton was finally on their way to the national tournament in Chicago. Their
reputation was known around the country as the team who defeated the 1925
National champion four times. Coach Lindley was confident that this would be the
year for another Kansas national champ. The early games - Zanesville, OH
(26-15), Lexington, KY (56-19) and El Reno, OK (31-21) - made Newton the
favorite to win it all. 7

Reporters called Newton's next game the greatest of the meet and one of the best
in tournament history. Dutch Clark of Pueblo, CO was the all-everything center
and future NFL star that won the day with great dribbling and he was the key
element of the defense that kept Newton off its game. Pueblo's defense limited
the Newton boys to only one point in the first half. They played a mostly
deliberate game on offense that consisted of long perimeter shots that gave them
a 6-1 lead at half-time. The Newton players were rattled in the second half and
missed free throw shots that would have tied the score. Pueblo hung on for a
13-11 victory. 8 Coach Lindley admitted years later that Newton should have come
out of their zone in the first half and pressured the ball. 9

Newton fans could hardly believe the results they received from the Newton
newspaper office. They still maintained that their team was the best in the land
and they honored the team upon their return as if they had won the 1st place
trophy. Everyone turned out for a parade through the streets of the town. 10

Topeka was awarded the Class B tournament that was played at Thomas Gym on the
Washburn University campus. The excellent reputation of George Woodward and
Arthur "Dutch" Lonborg as tournament directors was a factor in Topeka's
selection. 11 City business interests were excited to have the tournament - but the
loss of Eudora in an early round upset cut out one of the largest fan
contingents and hurt the gate in Topeka. C.E. Hobbs of the Topeka State Journal complained that the Topeka basketball
fans showed very little interest in the event. 12

The great individual play of Weidman for Denton and Russell Doyle for Deerfield
was the most memorable element of the final. Weidman won the day for Denton with
his consistent shooting. Doyle struggled with torn ligaments suffered in the
qualifying tournament held in Dodge City. He was still cited as the best player
in the tournament by Topeka writer Hobbs. 13

Denton finished the tournament with a perfect 30-0 record. They were the team
without a coach and the boys accepted the invitation to the Class A tourney
where they lost to Liberal in the opening round. 14

* George Clow: He played for three different high
schools in tournament play. Emporia-Roosevelt (1923), Emporia (1924 & 1925)
and Augusta (1926)

The association awarded the Class
A tourney site to Kansas State Teachers College at Hays (now known as Fort Hays
State) as part of a commitment to share the event with different sections of
the state. The games were played at the 2,000 seat Sheridan Coliseum. 1
The school paper reported that the crowds were the largest that ever attended a
state tournament. 2

The pre-tournament favorites were El
Dorado and Newton, winner and runner-up of the Ark Valley League that continued
as the best league in the state. McPherson and Olathe impressed the sports
writers as dark horse candidates for the title. Few would have predicted that
Lawrence and Winfield, both runner-ups in sectional tournaments, would face-off
in the finals. 3

Lawrence shocked the tournament
fans with a 30-20 win over Newton in the quarter-finals. 4
Newton fans were
especially not prepared to deal with a defeat in this round against the Lions.
They blamed the rough play of the Emporia team with taking away part of the
services of their star player Forrest "Frosty" Cox. His injuries in
the final regular season game with Emporia hampered his play at the Hays event.
(Newton stated they would no longer schedule Emporia due to the "poor
sportsmanship" of the Spartan players. Emporia countered that they were
fouled just as roughly and received ill treatment from the Newton crowd.) 5
Lawrence dispelled the idea that they won only because Cox was less than 100%
when they defeated Ark Valley champ El Dorado in the semi-finals. 6

Winfield's road to the finals was
helped greatly by the pre-tournament draw. Iola and Parsons were considered weak
opponents in this field. The Vikings were average in finishing fifth in the Ark
Valley with a conference record of 8-6. Yet, late in the season they seemed to
gather steam with wins over Arkansas City and Wichita. Their younger players
improved greatly over the season and they continued that trend with the
upset win of Arkansas City (again) in the semi-finals. 7

Coach Bill Martin advocated a
strong defensive play and a very precise offense. Lawrence seemed to be
exhausted by their previous big game encounters and reporters noted that their
second half play declined rapidly. 8
Captain Milton Whitson guided Winfield
through the tournament - especially on the offensive side. His court
leadership sparked the mid-season turn around that resulted in a state
championship. 9

Winfield proceeded on to the
national tournament where they inspected a court made of the finest maple and as
smooth as any they had ever seen. The court had been reduced to the high school
dimensions of 87' x 49'. There were no ceiling obstructions preventing high arch shots
from any area of the court. The goals extended from steel girders with no part of the
basket being connected with the floor. 10

The Winfield boys defeated
Aberdeen, SD in the opening round but lost to Vienna, GA in the next game.
11 E.A.
Thomas, Kansas Association director, agreed with others in the National
Federation who were opposed to these post-season national events. Kansas and most
other states would ban participation in the Chicago tournament after the 1928
season. 12

Washburn University AD George
Woodward directed the Class B tournament that was held at Thomas Gym on the
college campus. Chautauqua, the southeastern school near the Oklahoma border,
won the title over Williamsburg of Franklin County. The Chautauqua boys upset
Perry in an early contest and displayed a brilliant offense in the championship
game. Clifford Binns, key player for Williamsburg, was unavailable for the final
due to a sprained ankle. 13

The tourney was not a financial
success for the second year in a row. Woodward did not name an all-tournament team and
no third place game was played. The Topeka Daily Capital cited the draw of the
national AAU tournament in Kansas City as a reason for lower attendance than
expected. Washburn University made it to the semi-finals and played for third
place on the same day as the Class B finals. 14

Washburn's Thomas Gym drew fire as
an inferior venue even for a high school game. The court was too narrow and the
rafters were so low they interfered with arched shots. The balcony extended over
the corners of the court preventing shots from those spots. 15

(x) Almena was a Class B school (114 students) that chose
to enter a Class A meet that it won and qualified automatically for this
tournament.
Invited Teams: Four runner-ups were selected from the 12 district tourneys -
TOPEKA, LAWRENCE, WICHITA & PARSONS

# Walter Knight was the starting guard for Salina High
School in 1928 and 1929. He appears to be the first African-American to have
played in a KSHSAA tournament. The following excerpt comes from the SALINA HIGH
NEWS, April 5, 1929.

"Walt has played basket ball for Salina High two years
and twice he has been placed on the CKL (Central Kansas League) All-Star
quintet. This year he was awarded one of the highest honors of the league by
being appointed captain of this five. Walt is the first colored athlete in the
history of the league to attain this distinction. He is exceptionally adept at
getting rebounds; he never loses his head in wrath or excitement."

Walter Knight was interviewed
by Salina Journal writer Wayne Laugesen in 1989. He confirmed that he was the
first black to compete in inter-scholastic basketball competition with white
players. A review at that time by the author suggested he was most likely the
first in the state of Kansas and maybe even the United States to break the color
line in high school basketball. Walter talked about the support he received from
his Coach Ab Hinshaw and local Salina Journal writer Stu Dunbar. His team
and school classmates supported his play in 1927-28 and 1928-29. He was
blunt in describing the racial slurs that were hurled at him when playing on the
road. "The crowds would call me everything in the book - nigger, coon, you
name it, " Knight said. His teammates verified that he could have
easily played in college, but no school was willing to break the unwritten rules
in that era. 1Walter had advice that other schools e.g.
Emporia State might have wanted him to play football, but he chose not to pursue
that road. He was a carpenter and lived in Los Angeles for most of his working
life. 2
He returned to Salina in the 1970s and died there in 2006 at age 98. 1
Salina Journal, March 19, 1989, Pgs 1 & 9
2 Salina Journal, May 2, 1976, 26

He was born
too early to reach his full potential in athletics - but, besides his pioneer
efforts, he was part of a family with many accomplished members. His brother Guy
was the father of Bobby Knight who was an All-State football player for Salina
High school in 1945 & 1946. Bobby is the father of Danny, Mark & Kelly
Knight who played basketball at Kansas University. Another son, James, played
for San Diego University.

The KSHSAA made Winfield the site
of what had become the traveling Class A tournament. Stewart Gymnasium on the
Southwestern College campus was the venue for sixteen teams that traveled
through rain and snow to compete for the title. 1
The Wichita team started out
their trip in cars, but ended up transferring to a train when the weather led to
a collision with another car near the Sumner County line. Coach McAllister of
Wichita was unable to make the opening round game with Frontenac due to the
injuries he suffered in that crash. 2 The Parsons team had a car that slipped into
a ditch. 3 Kansas roads were mostly unpaved and bad weather often caused road
closures. Most roads leading to Winfield were closed after the start of the
tourney. 4

For the first time in tournament
history, a consolation tourney was held for first round losers. This guaranteed
that all sixteen teams would play at least two games at Winfield. 5

Frontenac was able to spring a surprise
on Wichita in the opening round. The Wichita players were a little shook up from
the auto accident, but they were still highly favored as one of the top three
teams in the Ark Valley. Then Newton followed with a first round loss to Hays
Catholic. The Hays Catholics impressed everyone with their clean play and
fighting quality. 6 Coach Lindley openly questioned his own basketball judgment to
members of the press. He was discouraged by the task of scouting. He watched
Pueblo in the 1926 National and was convinced that his second team would have
prevailed, but instead "they beat us." 7

Winfield proved they were the class of
the A division with easy victories in the first three games of the tourney. When
Topeka tried to slow it down against them in the final, the Vikings matched that
style and
easily controlled the 18-14 contest. Ernie Schmidt played mostly center for
Winfield and was a dominating defensive player when teams attempted a deliberate
style of play. 8 Upon graduation in 1929, he attended Kansas State Teachers
College-Pittsburg where he was 1st Team All-American for Coach John Lance. He
was also named to a few All-American AAU teams. He was inducted into the
Naismith Hall of Fame in 1974 as a player. 9

Five hundred loyal Winfield boosters gathered at the Santa Fe
station for a rousing send-off to the boys bound for Chicago where they were
scheduled to play the state champions of Michigan. 10
Iron Mountain grabbed an
early 14-3 lead at the end of the first quarter. Winfield returned with a stingy
defense that only allowed four points the rest of the game. Whitson, Schmidt and
Sidwell displayed basket shooting that gave the team a 34-18 victory. 11

Winfield's next opponent, Tulsa High, OK,
found a way to stop the pivot plays of Whitson and Schmidt and Winfield was unable
to solve the defensive strategy. The scoring stayed close in the first half, but
the Tulsa boys pulled away in the second half for a 26-19 win. Winfield's high
hopes were crushed and this was the last time a Kansas team played in a National
Tournament. 12

Ottawa University conducted the Class B
tourney. Only winners of the Class B Sectional elimination tournaments were
eligible. Eighteen of the eligible twenty-one teams entered the tournament -
Jewell, Rexford and Denton declined. No consolation bracket was conducted. 13

Haven and Chase, regular season rivals, made
the finals. Haven, coached by Buel Hunter, collected their 2nd state
championship in a very low scoring game. The cautious game was becoming standard
- especially when state championships were on the line. 14

The Class A tournament was
publicized in an unprecedented manner in 1929 by the Salina Journal newspaper.
E. A. Thomas noted in his newspaper column that was carried in several Kansas
papers. "Stuart Dunbar, sports editor of the paper (Salina Journal),
compiled the records and wrote the stories which comprised a great contribution
to the tournament."1 Dunbar devoted several pages to pre-tournament
coverage. He listed rosters, coaches and game-by-game season records of each
team. 2 Dunbar was hoping that Salina would draw record breaking receipts for the
tourney. He stated that this would be the biggest athletic event ever held in
Salina. 3

Thomas was an active observer of the
competition that took place at Salina's Memorial Hall. In previous years, he
split time between the Class A & B tournaments. This year the association
decided to consolidate the Class A and Class B state tournament. Class B teams
(population 150 and under) competed in elimination tournaments as in the past.
Then the top two finishers in these districts qualified for participation in the
Class A sectional meetings held the following weekend. Chase County and Wilson
qualified for the Salina tournament by winning Class A sectionals. 4
Thomas and
the executive committee invited five teams to join the eleven sectional winners.
Salina, Ottawa, El Dorado, Fort Scott and Wellington accepted the association's
invitation. 5

Pre-tournament favorites were Winfield
and KC-Wyandotte. The brackets were aligned to allow for a final between these
two teams. Wellington upset that dream game by eliminating the Bulldogs with
excellent long range shooting and skillful ball handling. Wyandotte was
unable to take advantage of their height advantage - Andy Skradski and Allen
Burns. Winfield made the finals with only Topeka providing much resistance. 6

Winfield's 10-8 final victory over
Newton brought howls of criticism from fans and writers. Newton had abandoned
the zone that Coach Lindley had used to great success in previous years. Still,
both teams played a very deliberate offense and each were very familiar with
each other from previous league encounters. The game boiled down to a cautious
chess match where both teams were waiting for the other to make a mistake. One
reporter summed it up this way, "The game was drab, featureless,
cold-blooded, for against the slow motion offense which has won three successive
titles for the Vikings the Railroaders matched one which was slower still."
7 Many critics favored a rule change that would establish a half-court line that
would eliminate retreating to the backcourt to maintain ball possession. The
national rules committee resisted and believed that abandoning the zone that
Winfield used would eliminate the delay or stall. 8

Ernie Schmidt completed his final year
in high school as the star who was an important part of Winfield's three
consecutive championships. He was praised by writers who gathered in Salina and
was heavily recruited by the college coaches that visited the tourney. In the
49-8 win over Salina, reports said he "leaped head and shoulders above the
Maroons to give a remarkable exhibition of hitting at short range."9 Bill
Martin left at the end of the year to become the head coach at Southwestern
College. 10

Stu Dunbar was happy to post the
announcement by A. B. Mackie, tourney director, that the receipts broke the
$4000 amount for the first time. 11
He had less than favorable comments about
KSHSAA head E. A. Thomas. He objected to Thomas demanding a seat in the press
area that forced the two available typewriters out of the arena. He accused the
executive secretary of cheering for Topeka over other opponents in the event. He
complained in general that "the tournament was going to be well managed
without Mr. Thomas making a spectacle of himself by fussing about in
impersonation of an efficiency expert or an old hen gathering chicks in a rain
storm." 12

Thomas announced several days later that the
1930 tournament would be held at Washburn University's new Whiting Field House
in Topeka. Topeka would host the largest class tourney for ten out of the next
eleven years. 13

The first Class A tournament in Topeka received a
promotion greater than even the 1929 Salina event. Topeka merchants provided
tickets for the Coach and varsity players of over 80 teams in the Topeka and
surrounding area. This was in addition to the free tickets provided
to the sixteen competing high schools. 1

For those unable to see the
game in person, WIBW radio stepped forward with the first ever radio broadcast
of the championship final. Ernie Quigley and
John Bunn, future Naismith HOF'ers,
were the announcers for this live broadcast. Previous radio reports only relayed
information received by telegraph wire. 2

Ark Valley teams were once
again picked as favorites to win it all at the new Washburn University Whiting
Field House. Newton was the champion of the league and the sectional tournament
held in Salina. 3 Hutchinson, guided by Coach "Chop" Cairns, was
another power in the league and the only team able to defeat Newton in the
regular season. 4

The Salt Hawks advanced to the
semi-finals over McPherson on the strength of a shot launched by Ed Colson from
near the middle of the court with seconds left before the final whistle.
Hutchinson won the center jump and dribbled out the remaining time. 5

In the final,
KC-Wyandotte eased by Newton to win their first title since 1923. Coach Percy
Parks employed a rigid zone defense that Newton could not crack. Some thought
that the rough game played with Topeka wore down the Newton boys. The
semi-finals were played Saturday afternoon with the final played in the evening.
6

KC-Wyandotte's win was a
boost for northeast Kansas basketball and brought hope to other teams that the
Ark Valley strangle hold on the title was over. 7 The third place game won by
Topeka 10-9 over Hutchinson renewed the call for a ten-second back court rule
and elimination of the center jump after made field goals .
8

Attendance for the Topeka
tourney, supplemented by local merchant sponsorship, broke records set in
Salina. Leslie Edmonds of the Topeka Daily Capital gave credit to E. A. Thomas
by writing, "He has a right to take satisfaction from the steady progress
of his institution. It's been good to see the finest youth of Kansas at play, to
see youngsters whose loyalty is still indivisible, whose illusions are still
their own, whose representation on their teams has no savor of commercialism or
professionalism." 9

Dunbar of Salina praised the fine
facilities of Washburn and predicted the tourney would stay in Topeka for many
years. However, he found fault with the behavior of the crowds. He noted that
the crowd for the foul plagued Topeka-Newton semi-final was "for utter
viciousness" as bad as he had ever seen. The guilty parties were not
connected with the schools, but came from some of the area youth who were given
free tickets and joined with some adult locals to back the Topeka
team. 10

B. P. Walker, a Topeka Daily Capital
columnist known as the "Village Deacon", summed up the feeling of the
hosts on the high school basketball spectacle. "These boys of eighteen have
been fighting mighty battles on strange fields for the glory of the old home
town - for father and mother, the beloved school and the sweetheart who awaits
the conquering hero. To the old home town they return heroes, whether in victory
or defeat, for they gave their best. How clean and fair and determined was it
all. No thought of sordid monetary gain, no stalling for bigger purses, no short
changing the public in any way." 11